The Middle East

Learning Targets / Standards Learning Targets: I will be able to use maps and charts to develop descriptions, theories and explanations about how people live in the Middle East. I will be able to define: gender inequality, imports and exports. Standards: Use geographic tools to gather data and make geographic inferences and predictions. Regions have different issues and perspectives.

Directions Read each slide. Use the maps, charts and images to answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper. Write your answer in complete sentences.

Part I: Ancient Mesopotamia & Geography Don’t forget to write your answers in complete sentences.

5 Use slides 6 and 7 to answer these questions: 1. What does Mesopotamia mean? 2. What are the two major rivers that flow through Mesopotamia?

6 Mesopotamia ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Greek mesopotamia, literally "a country between two rivers," from mesos "middle" + potamos "river.”

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8 Use slides 9 and 10 to answer these questions: 3. What geographic features that border Mesopotamia make human settlement difficult? 4. How does the geography of Mesopotamia make it a likely place for a civilization to rise? 5. Living next to a major river can be dangerous and risky. How?

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Modern Mesopotamia… Today Mesopotamia is called the Middle East. 6) Look at the maps below. Why do you think this region is called the “Middle East?” (The Middle East is circled in purple)

Part II: Economics Skip a line. Label this next section “Part 2: Economics.” Don’t forget to write your answers in complete sentences.

Economy Look at the map to the right (there is a larger one on the next slide) and use it to answer the questions. 7) List the types of goods Iraq produces. 8) Make a prediction—which of these goods do you think Iraq exports (sends out/sells) to other countries? 9) Using this map, how does Iraq get most of its electricity? (Use the Learners Dictionary if you need to look up a word)Learners Dictionary 10) Predict what might happen if countries north of Iraq dammed (blocked) the rivers. Bigger version of map on next slide!

GDP GDP (or Gross Domestic Product) measures the wealth of a country. It is a total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a country. The darker red countries on the map have the highest GDP (more wealth). The lighter red have the lowest. 11) Name two Middle East countries with a higher GDP and two countries with a lower GDP.

Economics of the Middle East Use the links on this page and the two graphs on the following slide to answer the following questions. 12) Write a definition for imports.imports 13) Name three countries that are oil importers. 14) Write a definition for exports.exports 15) Name three countries that are oil exporters. 16) Look at the two graphs on the next page. What do these graphs tell us about the countries with a high GDP in the Middle East? 17) What do they tell us about the countries with a low GDP?

Economy

18) When there is fighting in this part of the world, gasoline prices go up in the United States. Why? In your answer include facts from at least two graphs in this Map Quest.

Part III: Modern Geography The next few slides are about Iraq’s wetlands. Read the article on the next page and answer the questions that follow.

When you think of Iraq, you may think of desert land but it also once was home to wetlands. The wetlands, which once covered 11,000 square miles, were an important part of Iraqi culture and ecology. In addition to birds, fish, and other wildlife, the area was home to the marsh Arabs for 5,000 years. Their traditional way of life and their livelihood were centered around fishing, water buffalo herding, and reed cutting. These activities also contributed to Iraq's economic health. That culture was destroyed in the 1990s, when then-president Saddam Hussein drained most of the marshes. The repressive leader did this partly to punish the marsh Arabs, whose opposed Saddam's reign. The drainage left just seven percent of the original marsh intact and forced most of the locals to abandon the area, some of whom went to refugee camps in neighboring Iran. Others stayed on as farmers, trying to grow crops on the dried-out land. Modified from Achieve 3000, Saving Iraq’s Marshes

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Modern Geography 19) What happened to Iraq’s marshlands? 20) How do you think this change in environment hurt the marsh Arabs? Be specific.

24 Use slide 27 – 30 to answer this question: 21. Create a caption for each photo of Arab Marshes. Be sure to reference the slide number. a. Slide 28 b. Slide 29 c. Slide 30

Mudhif – reed architecture of the marsh Arab – Tigris and Euphrates delta.

Part IV: Wrap it Up Now, let’s put everything you gathered from these maps and images together…

22) What resources made Mesopotamia/the Middle East wealthy in ancient times? 23) What resources make this region wealthy in modern times? 24) What geographic features make this region difficult for large populations to survive? 25) Prediction: If countries in Europe and North America found a new renewable source of energy, such as solar power, what do you think would happen to the wealth of this region? Explain.